Geca Kon
{{Short description|Serbian publisher (1873–1941)}}
Geca Kon also spelled Gaetz Kohn ({{Lang-sr-Cyrl|Геца Кон}}; 2 August 1873 – 1941) was a Hungarian-Serbian bookstore owner and publisher. He established a bookstore in Belgrade, Serbia in 1901, and in 1905 he started his publishing business there under the name "Geca Kon a.d." In the interwar period, his company was the largest book publisher in Yugoslavia. During the 1930s, he published about 200 books a year, and earned large income. In 1929, he was elected president of the Society of Serbian publishers. Kon established several very popular editorial collections and financed young writers to boost their career.
After the start of World War II and German occupation of Serbia, Kon, who was Jewish, was arrested together with his whole family by the Nazis. They were all killed in the Holocaust. After the war and the establishment of Communist Yugoslavia, Kon's publishing company was nationalized and became a state-owned enterprise Prosveta, one of the largest publishing houses in Yugoslavia.
Early life
Kon was born in Jewish family in 1873 in Csongrád, Kingdom of Hungary. His father Bernard Kohn{{Cite journal |date=1 May 1926 |title=Јубилеј г. Геце Кона, издавача београдског |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00043_19260501|page:7 |journal=Vreme |pages=7}} was a rich rabbi. Several years after Geca's birth, the family moved to Zemun (then also in the Kingdom of Hungary, now in Serbia) where Geca's father was a school principal.{{Cite web |last=011info.com
Kon, then 16, moved to Belgrade, Serbia, in 1889. In Belgrade, he found work in the bookshop owned by Friedrich Breslauer. He worked in the shop until 1894, then moved to Novi Sad, staying there for a year and working as a manager in a bookshop owned by Arsa Pajević.{{cite web|title=Geca Kon|url=http://www.riznicasrpska.net/ponossrpstva/index.php?topic=204.0|accessdate=3 March 2014|archive-date=18 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418081912/http://www.riznicasrpska.net/ponossrpstva/index.php?topic=204.0|url-status=dead}} A year later, he moved back to Belgrade, working in the Friedman bookstore, where he met his future wife Elza Wiles who also worked there. In 1901, Koca Kon officially became the citizen of the Kingdom of Serbia.
Kon married Elsa in 1902. They had two daughters, Elvira and Malvina.
Publishing career
In 1901, Kon established his own bookstore. In 1905, he also started publishing books, the first book being "Sintaksa srpskog jezika za srednje škole" (Syntax of Serbian Language for High Schools) by Janko Lukić. The book sell well, so two years later, he published a translation of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, and then many more books by Serbian and foreign writers. Kon was innovative businessman. He was the first book publisher in Serbia who offered books on repayment via travelling salesmen. He also financed Serbian writers and writers' associations, so they can write books in peace, the books he will publish later. In 1906 he began publishing the journal Archives of Law and Social Sciences. The first catalogue of books of his publications Gece Kona came out in 1910. The catalogue contained 50 books, a selection that included many famous Serbian writers, including Mihailo Gavrilović, Slobodan Jovanović, Toma Živanović, Stojan Novaković and Gojko Niketić.
During the World War I, Belgrade was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army. Kon was arrested by the occupiers and sent to prisoners' camp in Neusiedl am See, Austria, where he was held until 1918. His company was closed during the occupation and the books from his bookstore printed in English, French and Russian were publicly burnt by the occupiers.
After the end of World War I, Kon returned to Belgrade and continued his business.{{Cite web |last=011info.com
Kon also had several enemies who publicly attacked him. He was attacked for being Jewish in the antisemitic journal Balkan. The journal falsely claimed that Kon was an Austro-Hungarian soldier in the World War I fighting against the Serbs.
Death and legacy
File:Stolperstein für Geza Kon (Belgrad).jpg in front of his villa in the Dobračina street]]
When the German army occupied Serbia in 1941, Kon reloacted briefly to Vrnjačka Banja, where he was arrested. He was moved to Sajmište concentration camp near Belgrade, and later to Austria, where he was executed.{{cite web|title=Страдање Геце Кона|url=http://www.istorijskabiblioteka.com/art2:stradanje-gece-kona|publisher=Историјска библиотека|accessdate=2 March 2014}} His wife and daughters, alongside other family members, were all killed by the Nazis in the town of Jabuka near Pančevo.
Kon's company was taken by the Germans who appointed a new manager Adolf Mosbek, a Nazi party member from Vienna. In August 1941, German businessmen established new publishing company in Belgrade named Jugoistok. In the summer if 1943, German commissariat sold the Geca Kon company to Jugoistok.{{Cite journal |date=23 December 1944 |title=Како су Немци покрали и упропастили највеће београдско издавачко предузеће |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00214_19441223|page:4 |journal=20. oktobar |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=4}} After the end of the World War II and the establishment of the Socialist Yugoslavia, the government decided to nationalize Kon's company and bookstore, as well as all of his former property. This was the basis for the establishment of the state-owned Prosveta. Prosveta continued many of the editorial collections started by Kon before the war, including the famous Plava ptica.
In 1995, Prosveta established Geca Kon award for best book on the history of books and publishing.{{Cite journal |date=3 August 1995 |title=Први "Геца Кон" - Велимиру Старчевићу |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00064_19950803|page:18 |journal=Borba |pages=18}} In 2016, the Bavarian State Library returned 203 out of 600 books that the Nazis took from Geca Kon. The rest were not found and were probably destroyed in the Allied bombing of Munich. Since there were no living relatives of Kon, the books were inherited by the National Library of Serbia.{{Cite web |date=2016-04-10 |title=Odgovornost za sopstveni udeo u nacističkoj prošlosti Nemačke - Kultura - Dnevni list Danas |url=https://www.danas.rs/kultura/odgovornost-za-sopstveni-udeo-u-nacistickoj-proslosti-nemacke/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |language=sr-RS}}
= Bookstore =
In the early 20th century, Geca Kon's bookstore operated from several locales in the center of Belgrade, and in 1932 settled at the address 12 Knez Mihailova Street.{{Cite web |title=» Kuća izdavača i knjižara Gece Kona |url=https://beogradskonasledje.rs/katalog_kd/kuca-izdavaca-i-knjizara-gece-kona-2 |access-date=2024-07-24 |language=en-US}} Prior to World War II it was the largest bookstore in the Balkans, with 700 pages of its 1938 catalogue featuring 16,000 titles.{{Cite web |last=d.o.o |first=cubes |title=Geca Kon i njegova knjižara - Vreme |url=https://vreme.com/kultura/geca-kon-i-njegova-knjizara/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=vreme.com/ |language=sr-RS}} After the World War II, the bookstore became part of the Prosveta company, but the name "Geca Kon Bookstore" was kept. It kept its original interior until 1990 when it was renovated and modernized.{{Cite journal |date=6 February 2009 |title=Одлука о утврђивању куће издавача и књижара Геце Кона у Београду за споменик културе |url=https://pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/eli/rep/sgrs/vlada/odluka/2009/9/24/reg |journal=Службени гласник РС |issue=9 |via=Pravno-informacioni sistem}} In 1993, a memorial plaque dedicated to Geca Kon was unveiled inside the bookstore.{{Cite journal |date=15 December 1993 |title=Spomen-ploča Geci Konu |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00064_19931215|page:22 |journal=Borba |pages=22}} In 2009, the building was declared a monument of culture.{{Cite web |last=B92 |title=Prva knjižara - spomenik kulture |url=https://www.b92.net/o/info/vesti/index?yyyy=2009&mm=02&dd=06&nav_category=12&nav_id=343646&version=amp |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=B92.net |language=sr}} Prosveta was privatized in 2009, but the contract was annulled in 2010, after which the Government took over.{{Cite web |last=Radisavljević |first=Zoran |title=„Prosveta” kreće iz podruma |url=https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/189800/prosveta-krece-iz-podruma |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=Politika Online}} This ignited fears that the bookstore might be closed for the first time since 1918.{{Cite journal |date=10 March 2009 |title=Vlasnik knjižara "Mamut" i Madlena Cepter hoće „Prosvetu" |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00064_20090310|page:20 |journal=Borba |pages=20}} In June 2019, the bookstore was flooded after a storm{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-06-24 |title=Poplavljena knjižara "Geca Kon", apel nadležnima da hitno reaguju |url=https://n1info.rs/vesti/a494342-poplavljena-knjizara-geca-kon/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=N1 |language=sr-RS}} and then closed for renovation in 2020.{{Cite web |title=POČINJU RADOVI NA SANACIJI KNJIŽARE "GECA KON" {{!}} Prosveta |url=https://www.prosveta.rs/novost/pocinju-radovi-na-sanaciji-knjizare-geca-kon |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=www.prosveta.rs}}
In 2020, Prosveta concluded a contract with state-owned publisher Službeni Glasnik who took over the management of the bookstore.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-24 |title=Svečano otvorena renovirana knjižara "Geca Kon" - Kultura - Dnevni list Danas |url=https://www.danas.rs/kultura/svecano-otvorena-renovirana-knjizara-geca-kon/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |language=sr-RS}} The renovated Geca Kon bookstore was opened in February 2021.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-24 |title=Geca Kon ponovo u Ulici kneza Mihaila - Kultura - Dnevni list Danas |url=https://www.danas.rs/kultura/geca-kon-ponovo-u-ulici-kneza-mihaila/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |language=sr-RS}} It was remodeled in the spirit of the original design, with wood panels around the store windows and the entry door with the mechanism from the 1930s. The upper floor includes a memorial space with fully restored furniture and Kon's personal items.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-06 |title=Geca Kon – Rekonstrukcija u duhu zlatnog perioda kultne knjižare |url=https://www.gradnja.rs/geca-kon-rekonstrukcija-u-duhu-zlatnog-perioda-kultne-knjizare/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=Gradnja |language=sr-RS}}
File:Knjižara Geca Kon05.jpg|Geca Kon bookstore in 2022, after renovation
File:Geca Kon Bookstore 1.jpg|Geca Kon Bookstore interior in 2021 with the 1993 memorial plaque visible
File:Geca Kon Bookstore 2.jpg|Geca Kon Bookstore, upper floor memorial space
References
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External links
- {{Commons category inline|Geca Kon}}
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Category:19th-century Hungarian Jews